Alright you guys. There’s something I want to tell you, freshman to freshman. Stop being a jerk on-campus public transportation. Now I’m not trying to be mean but there are a lot of things I’ve seen other freshman do that should never be done. I’m not a public transportation expert by any means but I have done this a couple times, so let me tell you how to make campus buses work for you and everyone else.

Know Where Your Going

Have an idea of where you want to go. A really awesome thing to use is Google Maps. If you put your location and the name of the building you want to go to, and click on the bus icon. It should show you exactly which bus to take and what stop to get off at. Basically, it’s a life saver. I’m not sure if this works for every school in the US but it’s worth a shot at trying out.

Another thing that has been really effective is asking the driver whether a bus will take you near or to the place you want to go. The drivers know where they’re going and are usually pretty pleasant about answering your questions. Sometimes they’ll even tell you which bus route you should take if you’re completely lost.

Getting on

When you want to get on the bus, let the other people get off first. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen people – usually freshman – make it completely impossible for anyone else to get off the bus. As much as you want to be on the bus and get to your next destination, you need to wait or you’ll make the process much longer than need be.

Hold your stuff

When you get on the bus, you should set your backpack in your lap. You also have the option to keep it on your back and press it up against the seat. I find the second option uncomfortable but that’s because I keep quite a bit of stuff in my backpack.

If you have multiple bags, make sure they stay in your own little area. Put stuff in your lap and on the floor or on your back. Do not have your bags taking up valuable seat space. It’s rude to anyone else who may want a seat. Just don’t do it.

Scoot in

When you choose a seat, make sure to seat as far away from the aisle of the bus as you can. This means put yourself so that there are no empty seats between you and the wall of the bus. This eliminates the problem of people not having a seat because they don’t want to climb over you to get to the seat.

Crowding

Sometimes you get on the bus and it’s filled to the brim with people. And that may mean that you have to stand during your bus ride. If that’s the case, you may want to take your back pack off and set it on the floor. This is especially true if your back pack is full of stuff. If it’s not, then keeping it on your back shouldn’t bother too many people.

Also, you don’t want to fall over. So stand with your legs slightly apart so that you have a better center of gravity. But don’t take up all the real estate, other people have to stand too. And if a seat becomes available and you can get to it, plant yourself in it quickly so someone else has room to stand behind you.

See, it’s not too difficult to be good at on-campus public transportation. You’ll be great at it in no time.

Which of these are you guys going to use? What sort of things have you guys seen other freshman do that you’d like them to change?

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My school is so huge that public transportation is a must just to get from class to class. And because it’s so huge, I remember falling down quite a bit when the bus starts moving.

My biggest pet peeve is when people bring open containers into the bus. There’s only a 3% chance that it won’t spill everywhere, and I’ve been unlucky enough to have had juice spilled all over me. Definitely not fun hahaha.